Little Madhouse on the Prairie: A True-Life Story of Overcoming Abuse and Healing the Spirit
Little Madhouse on the Prairie is Marion Witte's compelling chronicle of growing up as an abused child on a North Dakota farm in the 1950s. Her story begins two generations earlier, when her immigrant grandparents struggled to eke out a living on the unforgiving Midwestern plains. With clear-eyed compassion, Witte describes lives of unimaginable difficulty. Too often, frustration and hopelessness erupted in alcoholism and violence.
Little Marion had an older brother and younger sister, but it was she who was the preferred target of her mother's wrath. The beatings, punishments and neglect were all but ignored by her family, leading her to believe she must certainly have earned her mother's fury in some unfathomable way.
Only after making friends with a schoolmate who invited her into her own warm and supportive home does young Marion begin to sense that a different and better way of life existed outside the Witte family farm. Marion realizes that academic success is her ticket to freedom, so she works hard to put herself through college in three years and score one career achievement after another. But not even career triumphs, a wonderful husband and a beloved child are enough to quell the internal demons that prevent her from living an authentic life. To heal herself, she embarks on a solo journey to discover her true identity.
After years of work, Witte finally reconciles with the wounded child inside. From this place of hard-earned harmony, the author has dedicated herself to work tirelessly for the right of children to be free of emotional and physical abuse. In 2005, she founded the Angel Heart Foundation, whose vision is "All Children Deserve A Safe and Just World."
By shedding light on the cultural roots of her own abuse, Witte sets the stage for a way out of the cycle of violence of all children. Little Madhouse on the Prairie is an impassioned plea for action to extend human rights to the planet's youngest citizens.
Witte's memoir shares the path she took to her own recovery, and she offers hope and inspiration to those who desire to heal from the wounds of their own abuse.
The Story Behind This Book
I was one of the many children who grow up in abusive situations. I consider myself lucky, because although the odds were totally stacked against me, I escaped many of the afflictions that befall abused children. I did not wind up in a mental institution. I never spent any time in prison. I did not turn into a child abuser. I freely admit that I struggled with addictive behavior and major psychological issues as a direct result of my childhood experiences. And I spent a lot of time, energy and financial resources on my recovery. It took me a long time to decide to tell my story, primarily because I was waiting for an answer to my question, “Do I have the right to publish this material?” Then one day, in a moment of absolute clarity, my concerns ended. I realized that if I could participate in saving one child’s life, then I did not have the right to stay silent. At that moment, this book and my story became both my gift and my obligation. As I began to relay my experiences in my memoir, I started to wonder if the lives of children were intended to involve this level of struggle. I decided the answer to that question was “no,” and I gradually came to accept the responsibility I had to share my experiences with others in the spirit of education and in the hope for change. And during the writing process, I made a promise to myself that I would do what I could to make the world a better place for all children. I sold my business to create The Angel Heart Foundation and devote the rest of my life to raising our consciousness about the rights of children. My story started out about childhood abuse, the effects of that mistreatment, and the ways one can heal from those wounds. Ultimately it became so much more. The events I chronicle in Little Madhouse on the Prairie are the reason I make my impassioned plea for everyone to get involved in insuring that the planet’s youngest citizens are afforded their basic human rights. For I firmly believe that “All Children Deserve a Safe and Just World.” I invite you to join me on this journey. Marion Witte